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Platform
Xbox
Genre
Fighting
Publisher
Electronic Arts
Developer
EA Canada
ESRB
M (Mature)
Released
September 2004
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- Plenty of fights, fighters,
styles, and attitude
- Authentic clothing and “bling”
- Interesting story line with its share of twists and turns
- Looks great
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- Not much to do aside from
fighting and buying things in the story mode
- Player creation should have been more in-depth
- The menu music will make you want to reach for your CD player
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Review: Def Jam Vendetta (GC)
Review: Def Jam Vendetta (PS2)
Review: Ultimate MUSCLE - The Kinnikuman Legacy (GC)
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Def
Jam: Fight for NY
Score: 8.6 / 10
The sequel to EA’s Def Jam: Vendetta, Fight
for NY delivers arcade style fighting with today’s most recognized
hip-hop artists. Def Jam, which switched from a sports title to a story
driven game, does more than advertise heavily for rap stars; it
showcases nearly perfect controls with fighting mayhem.
Def Jam: Fight for NY starts off around the arrest of D-Mobb, the same
character that you fought with in the last game, in inner-city New York.
As he is being carried to prison, a mysterious man helps him escape. It
later turns out that the person behind his freeing is in fact your
character. In return for your services D-Mobb brings you into his inner
circle and asks you to join his squad in fighting to get the
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streets back under his control.
After customizing your character to look somewhat like yourself, for the
player creation process isn’t as in depth as it should have been (much
like any EA game), you can choose from five different fight styles to
teach your fighter: Wrestling, Submission, Kick-boxing, Street Fighting,
and Martial Arts. Each style feels different from the |
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other
so it may take some time before finding your ideal form. For instance,
Submission and Wrestling styles will benefit those who take there time
in fights and wait for specific moments to deliver their wrath, while
martial arts and kick-boxing styles will benefit those who work fast and
speedily through fights, sometimes improvising their moves. Not to
worry, throughout the story mode of the game you can train yourself in
the other styles in order to keep your opponents off guard and perhaps
find a better style for yourself.
The story mode is pretty simplistic and easy for anyone to jump into. To
fight, all you have to do is select a place and an opponent and in you
go. Since there is no difficulty level, fights will get harder and
harder as you progress through the game. There are only a couple of
instances where you will find yourself in a hard battle, but most of the
time winning a fight isn’t very difficult.
After matches, and hopefully victories, you can alter your character in
a number of ways. You can give him the latest “gear” ranging from Sean
John to Jordan, or get him a new haircut, maybe a Mohawk or afro. Aside
from aesthetics, you can train your fighter in the local gym. Although
training your fighter is a smart thing to do, there is no extra
ingredient to actually “training”. All you have to do is purchase an
upgrade in the area you feel is right, and you are automatically
stronger. I expected a training mode or something similar but nothing
was incorporated, which was a slight disappointment.
The music of Def Jam is predominantly filled with Kenny G riffs and
subtle hints of Leann Rimes – no wait, scratch that. As you’d expect the
soundtrack is filled with hip-hop tunes from today’s hottest performers.
(If you were expecting Kenny G, you’re out of luck.) Another downside to
the music is the lack of the Xbox’s support of custom soundtracks,
forcing you to listen to what is there. Not being a major rap fan, the
soundtrack lost its flavor quickly and made me want to crank up my own
tunes and just fight.
The fighting system of Def Jam: Fight for NY is one of its best
qualities. Rather than relying on sheer brute force, in order to win
matches your fighter must perform a special move. No matter how long you
fight and keep kicking butt, the fight won’t end until one fighter does
a special move to end the mayhem. Special moves can be purchased or
earned from other fighters throughout the game and performed at specific
moments. In order to obtain the ability of a special move in a fight,
you must first get consecutive blows to your opponent and have things
going your way. Much like EA Sports’ NBA Street and NFL Street’s “Gamebreaker”,
once activated you have a certain amount of time to grab your opponent
and just “lay the nasty” on him. Other ways of ending a fight are to use
your environment, such as pick up a pool cue and bash your opponent in
the head or run him into a wall.
Though graphically Def Jam looks fantastic, it’s the authenticity of the
characters that brings out the realism. All of the voices of the artists
are real and the excellent character models feature very lifelike facial
movements. From Snoop Dogg to the other 40 characters, the level of
detail is spread evenly. Keep your eye out for cameos from celebrities
including Omar Epps, Ice T, and Carmen Electra (whom are also playable
characters).
A thorough story campaign, plenty of modes of play for you and your
friends, and tons of fighters and techniques make Def Jam: Fight for New
York worth every penny. If you want to release some anger and can’t make
your way to your copy of GTA: San Andreas, than call up your friends and
gather around Fight for NY. In the words of Snoop Dogg himself, this
game “drops it like it’s hot”.
- Eric Lahiji
(January 26, 2005) |
